Moreover, there was no geographical advantage. Therefore, Song Taizu's strategic vision was quite accurate, and he also understood that recovering Yanyun, or even destroying Liao, could only be done slowly and in due course. This situation would have been no different for the Qin Emperor, Han Wudi, and Li Erlai.
After the full-scale war between the Later Jin and the Khitans began, under the Khitans' aggressive pressure, the Later Jin's fierce and powerful soldiers finally unleashed their fighting prowess, defeating Yelü Deguang twice. The first time, they routed the main Khitan force at Majiakou and Qicheng, forcing the Khitans to retreat in disgrace due to heavy losses. The second time, they routed 80,000 Khitan troops at Yangcheng, allowing Yelü Deguang to escape alone on a camel. In this battle, the Later Jin army achieved a rare and significant victory, pursuing the Liao army for over 20 miles and seizing nearly all of the 80,000 cavalry's armor, food, and other military supplies.
Emperor Shi Chonggui of Jin was overjoyed and even had the idea of recovering the 16 states of Yanyun. He then sent General Du Chongwei to lead almost all of the country's main forces, 200,000 elite troops, to the north.
However, Du Chongwei led an army of 200,000 to the Huzhuo River and confronted Yelu Deguang's 50,000 Khitan troops across the river. However, Du Chongwei did not move. Instead, he took the initiative to send the pro-war faction in the army to lead thousands of people to attack the Khitan army twice, but did not provide any rescue, allowing the Khitan army to completely wipe out the main force of the Jin army's vanguard.
Indeed, Du Chongwei wanted to emulate Shi Jingtang. He secretly sent people to contact the Khitans, requesting to surrender with 200,000 troops and become emperor. Yelu Deguang was overjoyed, as he had no idea that what he could do on the battlefield could be accomplished through this situation. So he promised him the throne, but only if he surrendered 200,000 troops to the Khitans.
Du Chongwei was overjoyed. He deployed a detachment of swordsmen behind the central army tent and called a meeting of all the generals. He summoned all the senior officers and suddenly presented a letter of surrender to the Khitan, ordering them to sign it one by one. Everyone was stunned, but seeing the shadowy blades flashing behind the tent, no one dared to disobey, and they signed one by one.
On the next day, the military camp was opened and the soldiers were ordered not to resist. However, Yelu Deguang was very scared. These 200,000 elite soldiers far outnumbered his own soldiers, and he could not control these 200,000 fully armed soldiers at all. So he gave Du Chongwei an ochre-yellow imperial robe and ordered him to patrol in front of the 200,000 troops. Du Chongwei was completely relieved.
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